Prof van Velzen, 51, said he inherited a run-down, dilapidated system when he started work at the Alder Hey children's hospital in Liverpool.

"The support that was needed, that was promised, that was agreed to by NHS management...the support to re-establish care for parents in that hospital where it had been absent for years...that was not forthcoming.

"That was not my choice. That was the management's choice.

"The main apology I can offer parents is that I have not resigned on their behalf earlier."

Police have been brought in to investigate possible criminal charges against the pathologist over organ retention at Alder Hey.

A warrant was also issued for his arrest in Canada after children's organs were found in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he went after leaving Liverpool.

Prof van Velzen's denial comes as health officials prepare for an emergency summit to combat a feared collapse in the number of transplants following the Alder Hey scandal.

Health Secretary Alan Milburn will hold the meeting with surgeons, health chiefs, business representatives, unions and parents "as soon as possible" in a bid to rebuild public confidence as donations are feared to have dropped by more than half.

Liver transplant surgeon John Buckels, of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, said the centre "had not had a single donor for 10 days".

"The drop in organ donations could inevitably put people at risk if last week is anything to go by," he said.

"We already have a shortfall and a situation where some patients deteriorate and die, and inevitably that will get worse."

The Royal Brompton Hospital in west London, another leading transplant centre, also said it had not carried out any transplants over the last week and a half.

Dr Michael Wilks, chairman of the British Medical Association's medical ethics committee, said it was "extremely worrying" to hear that the number of organs being donated for transplant has dropped suddenly in the wake of the Alder Hey report.

Pioneering heart surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub has voiced concerns that the scandal could lead to a potentially fatal drop in donors.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said it would draw up plans for the meeting today and hoped to hold it in London in the next few weeks.

Measures under discussion include putting donor cards in people's pay packets and other ways of raising awareness.